


Falling in Love at the Jersey Shore

by elegantstupidity



Category: Pride and Prejudice - All Media Types, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-20
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2017-11-29 21:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/691760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elegantstupidity/pseuds/elegantstupidity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's just that something about this summer already feels different. Like everything is going to change, and it's kind of scary." Summer at the Jersey Shore has never been weirder for Izzy, but that is just the beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Izzy was glad she’d convinced Jo to drive with the windows down. It wasn’t a long drive from Manhattan to home in Seaside Heights, but Izzy itched at confinement for long periods of time. The weather was unseasonably warm, inching towards the 80s the closer the clock ticked to noon. Jo had tuned in to some Top 40 station and was humming along as she drove. The contents of their past year filled the back of the van. 

The choice had been simple. Francesca Benetti, matriarch of the Benetti clan, had said they could chauffeur their three younger sisters home, or haul all the cargo in the family’s ancient minivan. Much as Izzy loved the youngest Benettis—Maria, Caterina, and Lucia—she was not sure she could take all of them confined to a metal box for the trip home. She was happy, though, to spend the hour and a half with Giovanna, the oldest daughter and recent graduate. 

The entire family had spent the weekend in New York to celebrate Jo’s achievement, though Cat and Lucia had managed to finagle a shopping spree out of the visit, too. Izzy loved her loud, Italian family, but she figured the ride home would allow her to collect her wits and strengthen her resolve in the face of an entire summer in their company. Between her mother’s neurotics, Caterina and Lucia’s gossip, and Maria’s philosophizing, Izzy wasn’t sure when she would next enjoy a moment of quiet. Thankfully, Lorenzo Benetti, nominal head of the household, maintained a sanctuary of reason in the form of a home office where his second eldest could escape now and again. 

“So, how’s it feel to be all graduated and headed to your last summer at the Shore? Gonna fit in as many guidos as possible?” 

Giovanna threw her sister a look. It didn’t quite hit the peeved expression she was aiming for, Izzy noted with satisfaction. Jo was too sweet to really pull off irritation. Jo was too everything, though. Too pretty, too kind, too soft spoken—too smart for a face like hers, their mother would say. If it could be agreed that the Benetti sisters had all benefited from the figurative genetic lottery, then it was a given that Giovanna Benetti had won the jackpot. 

In essentials, all the Benetti sisters looked similar: olive skin, dark eyes and hair. Giovanna, as first born, had fittingly set an impossible standard. Tall and delicate, her olive complexion was complemented by an abundance of dark hair and hazel eyes. Sometimes Izzy was disgusted with her sister’s good looks. Jo was like a walking, talking magazine cover. 

“Isabella, just because I’ve got my degree doesn’t mean that I can’t come home to see my family, even during the summer.”

“Yeah, but you start coming home every summer and soon you’re 30, hitting on guys at some club on the Boardwalk,” Izzy teased.

Jo rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Not everyone who has set foot in Seaside Heights is destined to become Snooki, Iz.”

“Don’t even joke about becoming Snooki, Jo. Not with our sisters.”

“Oh, they’re not that bad! Cat and Lucia are just young, they’ll grow out of it.”

“Yeah, I’m just worried it won’t happen before they’ve made out with the entire cast of Jersey Shore,” Izzy muttered in reply. 

Jo’s mouth quirked up in a grin, but she went back to humming along to the radio. A few minutes passed in reflective quiet, wind from the open windows whipping Izzy’s hair around her face. 

“Oh!” Jo exclaimed. “What was mom talking about yesterday about having new neighbors? What happened to the Ferrells?”

“Well, they decided they wanted to try out Colorado for a while, so they’ve rented out their house. I guess it’s some guy named Chester Bingley, his entire family, and his seven friends from New York. Lucia claims he’s planning on opening up a new club. I think mom said it was going to be called Nether. God knows where she gets her information, though.”

Jo nodded, “Well it’ll be nice to have new faces in the neighborhood.”

“Mom’s already planned your future life as Mrs. Bingley. I think she’s hoping for a June wedding.” Izzy paused to consider, “Though, I do hope she means next June.”

“Oh, Izzy, stop it. Mom’s not that bad.”

“No, I actually heard her asking Maria how long she thought it would be before the guy proposed to you. You’re officially out of school, Jo, she can start trying to marry you off without being shamed by society, now.”

Jo just laughed and Izzy joined her a moment later. “It is weird, though,” she began, picking up on the original conversation. “Maria will be in the city next fall, and you’ll be a senior. It’ll only be Cat and Lucia at home with Mom and Dad. You’re growing up so fast!”

“Geez, Mom,” Izzy drawled, “no need to get so worked up. We’ve still got this summer. We can build up dad’s patience—he’ll need it with what he’s facing come fall.”

Her older sister smiled, eyes still on the road. “I know. It’s just that something about this summer already feels different. Like everything is going to change, and it’s kind of scary.”

“Graduating must have made you extra touchy-feely today! I know what’ll help: Ke$ha!”

Izzy cranked up the radio and belted out the catchy tune. Jo shook her head at her sister’s antics but sang along, too. They kept this up for the rest of the ride: barreling headlong towards home, summer, and more changes than they could know.


	2. Meet the Neighbors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing the Benetti family and a party at The Lodge

“Oh my god, Carly. I think I might strangle one or all of my sisters soon,” groaned a frustrated Izzy into the phone. She had escaped to her and Jo’s room when the press of mothers and sisters became too much. Currently, she was sprawled on her bed, head dangling off the edge.

“Even, Jo? I thought we were fond of Jo,” replied Carly, Izzy’s best friend from New York. The two had met on Izzy’s first day of classes at Columbia. Carly had managed to get Izzy to the first class of her college career on time, despite the fact that she had been running late and was hopelessly lost. Ever since, Izzy had seen the older woman and her inside knowledge of the university as nearly magical. They’d become fast friends. Even though Carly lived in New York as a full-time grad student, her parents had moved to Seaside Heights when she was still in undergrad and opened a restaurant, known only as The Lodge. This was the first summer Carly would spend at the Shore with her parents.

“Collateral damage. She’d suspect too much if the others all died unexpectedly and violently.” Maria, who had been walking by the open bedroom door, internally reaffirmed how much she wanted to get out of this town.

“What’s got you down, Iz?” Carly asked in only the way a long-suffering and loyal friend would.

“They’re just so young! They don’t get anything important in the world. Maria just wants to talk about dead philosophers and if we're lucky, Lucia and Cat are gonna end up as blurred faces on Girls Gone Wild. They have to grow up and join the real world.”

“Izzy, don’t tell me you’ve turned into a wizened crone in the three days since I've seen you,” Carly teased, rolling her eyes.

“I have no idea what you’re getting at, Carly,” she replied, a little stung that her friend wouldn’t side with her. 

“You’re what, twenty? You’re young, too! I’m young and I have seven years on you. Give them time to grow up, they’re just kids. Not everyone can live up to your exacting demands all the time.” 

“I’m twenty-one in a week,” Izzy pouted and refused to acknowledge her snobbery. 

Carly just laughed and changed the subject. “You’re coming to The Lodge tonight, right? I think dad said he actually hired a DJ.” In celebration of the beginning of summer, and the beginning of tourist season, Carly’s dad, who had somehow convinced everyone to call him “Sir Lucas,” was throwing a party for all the locals.

“Oh, yes. The whole family will be coming along.”

“Even your dad?” Carly asked, incredulous. 

“Now that I think about it, probably not. I expect he’ll have come up with a semi-plausible reason to stay in with Boccaccio tonight. The man does love his quiet time.” 

Which was putting it mildly. Lorenzo Benetti was a man of few words, either because he was naturally reserved or because of his retained uncertainty with English. Lorenzo had been born in a small town in the south of Italy, but had made it to the United States to study the Italian Renaissance for his doctorate. There, he met his future-wife, Francesca. He maintained that he’d married her in spite of her fractious nature, but Izzy had a feeling he’d married her because of it.

He’d written several well-received articles on Renaissance literature, but never bothered to expand his research into a book. His tenured position at a local university meant that he no longer had to “publish or perish,” and he found few students who displayed an appropriate passion for Dante or Machiavelli. As a result, he generally oversaw graduate projects, and spent much of his time at home.

“Yeah, well tonight is going to be anything but quiet, from what I hear,” Carly responded.

“What do you know that I don’t?” Izzy sat up, intrigued despite herself.

“I guess the owner of that new nightclub, Nether, is going to be at the party tonight, along with his sisters and some of his very single friends.” 

“How do you already have a better handle on town gossip than me?” Izzy demanded. “You’ve been here for less than 24 hours!”

“Well, it helps that my mom was in charge of the guest list.”

Izzy groaned, “My mom is not going to accept that as an excuse. I swear, the woman should work for the NSA for all the information she manages to gather on a daily basis.” She rolled to her stomach and mused, “I guess this means that we won’t have to listen to more speculation about dear Mr. Bingley anymore if we can actually meet him.”

“You haven’t met him yet? Didn’t he move into your neighbor’s house?” asked Carly.

“How do you know that? I literally just heard about him three days ago!”

Carly laughed, “Well, your mother should work for the NSA, but some people really do.”

“Don’t even joke, Carly! You know how I feel about the NSA's data mining practices. It’s a constitutional breach of—”

Carly just laughed harder. “Don’t go all conspiracy-nut on me, Iz. You’re getting that fancy education so you can work in the system, not just yell about it.”

“I know, I know. It’s just so easy to yell, you know?” Carly didn’t answer, so Izzy reverted back to their original topic. “Anyway, we haven’t met the Bingleys, or any of their eligible bachelors, because mom has gotten really weird about it. She insisted dad go over and introduce himself so Bingley could repay the visit and meet us in, and I quote, ‘our natural environment.’”

“Wow,” Carly breathed. “Sometimes I forget that your mom isn’t some caricature from a novel.”

“Preach it, sister. Well, dad kept putting her off, and finally just refused to do it. So now, she’s been throwing increasingly aggressive passive-aggressive comments at him. Mostly, they’re about how no one will ever want to marry us if they see our own father doesn’t care about our social standing.”

“That’s very,” Carly paused to search for an appropriately descriptive word, “traditional.”

“That’s just Francesca Benetti. Live like you’ve never left the old country, even if you were born in the new one,” Izzy responded with affection. Her mother was a lot to deal with, but she loved her daughters, even when they didn’t exactly live up to her ideals.

Carly chuckled again and said, “Hey, I’ve gotta go help the parents set everything up. See you tonight?”

“Tonight,” Izzy promised and ended the call.

* * *

Ordinarily just a restaurant with a rooftop bar, The Lodge had been turned out in true Jersey Shore style by the Lucases. A dance floor, complete with lights and DJ booth, dominated the roof, leaving the dining room below available for less rowdy entertainment. Not that anyone really came to the Shore for low-key nights out. The dance floor was packed, mostly with locals Izzy had known for her whole life. 

"Ugh! I don't think I wanted to know that Mrs. Peterson is  _that_  affectionate," Izzy commented to Jo. 

"I think it's impressive a woman of her age can move like that," her perfect sister responded sincerely.

Izzy shook her head, "Oh, don't ruin my fun, Jo! There aren't enough dudes here to dance with, you have to leave me something."

"I'm leaving you your people watching," Jo laughed. "And reserving comment." 

Widening her eyes in playful shock, Izzy asked, "Are you  _judging_ the fact that I am  _judging_ our friends and neighbors, Giovanna Benetti?"

"No!" she exclaimed, brow wrinkling in earnest worry at her younger sister's implication. "All that matters is that everyone is having fun."

"Ah, there's Saint Jo," Izzy returned fondly, before something caught her eye. "Although, it looks like some people are having a little too much fun."

Stumbling towards the pair of Benettis was another pair of Benettis. The two eldest sisters awaited the approach of the youngest, Caterina and Lucia. Their faces were a little too flushed and their giggles too giddy to have been solely the product of the crush of people on the dance floor. 

Izzy frowned. Cat was only seventeen and Lucia a year younger, they had no business getting so noticeably drunk at a public gathering. The least they could have done was gotten drunk in private like any self-respecting teenagers. Who really wanted to get hammered in the company of their parents and neighbors? At least there was no need to worry about Maria. She'd probably locked herself in Sir Lucas's office at the first available opportunity and was occupying herself with Kierkegaard. 

Jo just sounded concerned, "Are you two all right?" She raised a hand to push the hair from Lucia's sweaty forehead only to be batted away. 

"How many drinks have you had?" Izzy asked bluntly.

Cat flushed even more, but Lucia raised her chin obstinately. "You're not the boss of us, Isabella Benetti! Just because you're all old and boring doesn't mean that we can't have fun! We're totally mature enough to handle a few drinks."

"Just because you finally hit your growth spurt doesn't make you an adult, Lu. Can you just slow it down? There's no prize for puking in the ficus at the end of the night."

Lucia just sneered at her older sister's advice and twirled back to the dance floor. Cat moved to follow, but turned back to say, "Mom wants you both downstairs ASAP."

Jo and Izzy looked at each other, unsure of what could be so important to their mother. Before they could ask, Cat had disappeared into the crowd. 

Izzy had a hunch about why their mother needed them, and that hunch told her it was less about  _them_ and more about _Giovanna_. Still, she had no intention of pissing off her mother this early in the summer, so she moved with Jo to go downstairs. 

Once on the stairway that led into the dining room, it was not difficult to spot Francesca Benetti. For a forty-five year old woman, she had kept in remarkable shape, and had always been considered quite the beauty. Rather than relying on that, however, Mrs. Benetti had turned to fashion to augment her appearance. What often resulted was a combination of styles and patterns that would have been more at home in a runway show than suburban New Jersey. Frankly, it was a miracle that Mrs. Benetti's high end tastes had not bankrupted the family. Tonight, she was wearing a feather and sequin covered blouse, which nearly overshadowed the fact that she was speaking with an unknown man.

From their vantage on the stairs, all Jo and Izzy could see was a well-dressed young man. He appeared to be fairly tall, with a pleasant face. Most telling, though, was that he seemed to be enjoying his conversation with their mother. He nodded earnestly as she spoke and responded when prompted. He even followed her hand gestures. It wasn't until he looked towards them that Izzy realized their mother had spotted her two eldest and pointed them out to the mystery man. When he finally picked them out, Izzy could not have been less surprised. 

His eyes seemed to widen and glaze over when they landed on Jo, and Izzy could bet that time seemed to stop for him. This would have been more alarming if she hadn't witnessed nearly the same reaction dozens of times in her life. The truth of the matter was that for many men, setting eyes on Giovanni Benetti for the first time cut off all higher cognitive function. The only difference this time around was that Jo seemed to have frozen in place, too. A wide grin cracking her face, Izzy internally celebrated. Jo was famously reticent in talking about the men she liked, but this kind of gut reaction was as good an indicator as any. 

Nudging her sister into motion, the two continued down the stairs. At its foot, Izzy ran into Carly. Letting Jo go ahead, Izzy hooked arms with her best friend for the first time that night. 

"Since you've got your ear to the ground here, care to tell me who's talking to my mom?"

"That would be the infamous Chester Bingley. He came with his sister and a friend, not the legion of hangers-on that was originally reported. He seems pretty nice, though his companions could work on their people skills. Dad had me on door duty, so I met them all when they arrived," Carly finished explaining as they reached their target. 

And just in time, too. Mrs. Benetti was regaling a rapt Chester Bingley with tales of Jo's perfection, despite her daughter's growing mortification. "She's just graduated with honors, and we couldn't be prouder of her! Still, I think she may have missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime when she wouldn't agree to work with that talent scout that discovered her when she was fifteen." She would have continued, but Izzy saw the look of shy embarrassment on Jo's face and cut in. 

"Mom, that guy was a crook. We watched him get arrested the next week!" Mrs. Benetti looked annoyed, and in the interest of keeping her mother happy, Izzy continued, "Besides, we didn't really need a professional to know that Giovanna Benetti is destined for great things."

"Izzy!" Jo exclaimed, blushing prettily while Carly laughed at her modesty. Mr. Bingley, though, looked all the more smitten.

Mrs. Benetti could never be wholly pleased with her second daughter, though. "Oh, Mr. Bingley! Don't you pay attention to a word that comes out of this girl's mouth. She's always been too smart for her own good!" The sting was softened by her mother's halfway-fond smile. Step between Mrs. Benetti and a potential suitor for one of her daughters, and there was no telling what kind of damage she would inflict. "This is my second eldest, Isabella."

"It's always wonderful to see such loving siblings! I have a twin, and we're squabbling more often than not. But please, call me Chet," he introduced himself, extending a hand. 

Izzy had to suppress the laugh that threatened to escape--Chet definitely sounded more like the name of some knock-off Ken doll than something a parent names their child--but returned the handshake without incident. "Only if you call me Izzy," she returned with a smile. 

His attention had already returned to the blushing Jo, though. Izzy could tell her sister was nervous, but she hid it well. "Is your twin here with you, Chet?" Jo asked, smiling shyly. 

Chet obviously heard the question if the way he started smiling in earnest at the sound of his name falling from Jo's lips was any indicator. It took him a moment to answer though. When he realized he'd simply been staring, his ears reddened tellingly. "Oh! Yes, Cecilia is here with me for the summer along with my friend Darcy." He looked around for a moment before brightening up. "They're just over there, I'll go get them so I can introduce you!" Chet gestured to a corner where a fashionable young woman and fairly dour man were sitting, ignoring the party occurring around them. He was off before anyone could protest. 

As soon as Chet was out of earshot, Francesca Benetti rounded on her second eldest. "You listen to me, Miss Isabella. You will not go ruining your sister's chances with this man! None of your sass! You may be too smart for your own good, but that does not mean Giovanna is."

"That's not what Izzy was doing, Mom," Jo placated, trying to nip this conflict in the bud.

Izzy rolled her eyes. She would have put up more of a fight, but could see how Jo wanted to avoid this subject altogether, so she said, "They've literally exchanged four sentences. At least wait to plan their wedding until they've known each other a week." She'd meant it as a joke, but her timing was the worst it could be. Chet's sister and friend had approached them and clearly heard Izzy's comment. The woman, Cecilia, raised an eyebrow in judgmental concern while the man's frown deepened. Luckily, Chet was ushering them from behind and heard nothing. 

"Here we are!" Chet exclaimed, somehow taking a spot in the group as near to Jo as possible. "May I introduce my sister, Cecilia, and one of my closest friends, Will Darcy? Cecilia, Darcy, this is Francesca, Giovanna, and Isabella Benetti, our new neighbors. And of course, Carly Lucas, one of our hosts for the evening."

Cecilia drawled a bored, "Charmed, I'm sure," while Darcy just nodded curtly. He looked as though he would rather be water boarded than spend another moment in The Lodge. Izzy was put off immediately by the man's haughty demeanor; some people just don't deal well with social functions, she knew, but that doesn't mean a smile was too much to ask. Nonetheless, she smiled at the two, hoping they knew she'd been joking earlier.

An awkward silence descended over the group, and neither Chet nor Jo seemed all that inclined to break it. They smiled sweetly at each other and proceeded to ignore everyone else. Hoping to salvage the situation, Izzy addressed Cecilia, "How are you all settling into life on the Shore?"

The other woman smiled, revealing perfect, pearly white teeth. "I believe we're managing. It is quite different from life in Manhattan, more," she searched for a word, " _quaint._ It really does feel quite isolated."

Izzy wasn't sure if Cecilia meant for her comments to be so barbed, but tried to smile it off. She could feel her hackles rising, though. Before she could say something she would regret, her mother responded, "Yes, it would be quite exciting to live full time in Manhattan. I tried to convince my husband to move us there when all the girls were small, but he was stubborn. But there's so much company here, too! It's never boring in Seaside Heights."

" _All_ the girls?" Cecilia's eyebrow rose again as though she had learned some scandalous piece of gossip. "How many daughters do you have Mrs. Benetti?"

Izzy jumped in before her mother could lapse into an oversharing moment. "There are five of us. Jo is the oldest, then me, Maria, Caterina, and finally Lucia. They're all around here somewhere, but I'm sure you'll meet them sooner or later seeing as we'll be neighbors for the summer."

Clearly, though, neither Cecilia nor Darcy were particularly interested in this information. Darcy continued his stand-offish behavior, and Izzy could feel any sympathy she might have for him slipping from her grasp. Cecilia smiled, a haughty edge bleeding through. "Ah, yes. From what I recall, you all must have been quite," she paused again, and Izzy was sure it was to find the perfectly condescending fit of: " _cozy_ while you were growing up."

Frankly, Cecilia was lucky Mrs. Benetti had turned her attention to her eldest and her admirer. As it was, Izzy's hands clenched into fists at her sides as she fought to keep her temper in check. Any uncertainty she had about Cecilia's cattiness was gone, and Izzy was not going to stand for it. Just as she was about to spit out a response, Carly looped their arms together in a calming gesture. She said, "The Benetti girls are tight-knit for as different as they are, and lucky for it. I wish I was as close to my siblings." Here, she turned her attention to Darcy, who still had made no contribution to the conversation, "Do you have any siblings?"

He looked taken aback and vaguely offended to be addressed at all. After clearing his throat, he responded, "Yes."

Both Izzy and Carly expected an elaboration, but none was forthcoming. The two exchanged a glance of incredulity. This guy was unreal. 

Before Darcy could be induced to speak further, Chet exclaimed, "What a wonderful idea! Giovanna, would you like to dance?"

Jo smiled, looking more radiant than Izzy had ever seen. "Just Jo, please. And of course. I'd like that." 

Chet beamed down at her, and both Carly and Izzy were sure they'd never seen a better-tempered pair. Casting his eyes over the rest of the group, Chet invited everyone else along. Cecilia somehow convinced Darcy to escort her to the dance floor and Carly and Izzy trailed along after. Mrs. Benetti stayed behind to better lord her daughter's good fortune over the rest of the mothers of Seaside Heights. 

* * *

Even in the fresh air of the rooftop, Izzy had to step out of the crowd for a breather. She and Carly had torn up the dance floor for several songs. Lucia and Cat had even found them at one point and they'd bounced around to the latest boy band remix, all apparently forgiven in the rush of dancing, boys, and unfortunately more booze. Jo and Chet were off in their own little world, completely unaware that the rooftop was full of people. 

Sidling up to the bar, even if she was still a week away from full legality, Izzy's attention was caught by a brooding figure. Ordering her gin and tonic from a bartender that she knew from high school, she turned to survey Will Darcy. 

He'd willingly danced with Cecilia for a song and a half, but had managed to extricate himself after that. It was fairly impressive given Cecilia's determination to keep him by her side. Rather than act like a normal human being and introduce himself to someone, Darcy had hovered by the roof's railing, looking more morose than ever. Even as she waited for her drink, Izzy watched him brush off every advance, even when Sir Lucas stopped to chat. He was determined to be alone, even as he was rude doing it. 

Figuring it would be better to avoid him rather than waste her time, unfortunate considering how gorgeous he was, Izzy was about to return to the dance floor, drink in hand. However, her ears perked up at the sound of an already familiar voice. 

"Darcy! Man, why aren't you dancing? You look like a creep hanging out here in the shadows!" Chet Bingley's voice rang out, even over the thud of the DJ's bass. Izzy inched closer, curious to see how Darcy would respond.

Darcy sighed heavily. “I feel like Mike the Situation.”

“Well, I’m surprised you even know who that is, but that’s fantastic!”

“It’s really not, Chet. I am too old and too professional to be spending a summer at the Jersey Shore.” 

Izzy frowned, but was unsurprised. Ever since MTV started filming here, business had boomed, but their reputation had plummeted. Everyone loved to hate on reality TV, never mind how little it reflected reality. Obviously Darcy fit that bill exactly. She was glad that she'd already resolved to avoid this snob, though Chet was proving to be pretty awesome. 

"Loosen up!" Chet encouraged. "I know! You've gotta dance with someone. You're at a party! There are tons of beautiful women here who would love to dance!"

If anything, Darcy tensed even further at the command to "loosen up." Chet was aggravating him, especially since he did not want to be here in the first place. "I already danced with your sister," he justified, "and you're dancing with the only girl here who would be worth the effort."

Izzy's brows raised at the backhanded compliment to Jo, but continued listening even as she watched the dance floor.

"She's gorgeous, isn't she? And funny and kind and smart," Chet sighed. "But, c'mon. You're over-exaggerating. This place is crawling with lovely women. Hey! What about Jo's sister? Izzy? She's right over there."

Izzy knew she'd been spotted and had to fight with every fiber of her being not to react. Unfortunately, she was entirely unsuccessful because her head turned and her eyes locked with Darcy. He stared at her for a moment before he turned back to Chet. 

"Her? She's nothing special, and I'm not about to do some Jersey girl a favor just because no one else wants to dance with her," he informed Chet, completely annoyed. "Look, just go back to your girl, I'm sure she's wondering where you've gone."

Chet looked like he was about to argue, but ultimately did go to find Jo. 

As for Izzy, she was frozen to the spot, a little shocked. What an asshole! She was not a particularly vain person, but it was generally agreed that she and her sisters were very pretty. Of course, Jo was beautiful and Lucia confident, but none of the Benetti girls were really wanting in the looks department. No one had ever made that kind of snap judgement about her before. And anyone who bothered to talk to her walked away with a good impression. This asshole hadn't even bothered!

Izzy looked down at her cup and was surprised to find it empty. Thinking about it now, she could now taste the lime and gin in her mouth, and the taste helped her not think about arrogant douchebags. Turning around, she marched up to the bar and ordered three shots. As soon as they were in front of her, she knocked them back in quick succession. Izzy couldn't unhear the things Darcy had said about her, and she had no interest in reforming his opinion of her. There was really only one thing to do, and it was easily accomplished: drink until the entire situation became hilarious. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been away from this for a really long time, but actually have the entire plot planned out. Maybe when I'm done with my thesis I'll be able to devote this story some serious attention. Let me know what you thought!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into Austen fanfiction, but this is an idea that's been floating around in my head for an absurdly long time. I've actually got an outline, so there's a chance I might finish this, but let me know what you think!


End file.
